Many of the nuclear energy diaries I've read are perhaps even more contentious than current candidate diaries. One major issue argued over is whether renewables can provide base-load power-defined by Wikipedia as an "energy source that provides a steady flow of power regardless of demand."
A recent article in Scientific American argues that solar can be used as base-load power and that America could almost completely transition to solar over the next century. Another recent article suggests that wind turbines can also function as base-load power at about a third of their rated capacity.
The Solar Grand Plan envisions clean, renewable energy could supply almost 70% of US electricity and 35% of the total energy by 2050 if we were to construct 3000 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar plants(CSP). By the year 2100, with further construction, solar could provide 100% of the electricity and 90% of the total energy.
So, how much land would each of these solutions require? I did some calculations and have a simple slide show, similar to biodiesel bob, to illustrate the results. Image intensive!